IFAD 01/07

Dubai, 30 January 2007 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) invites all media houses to a ‘Meet the Press’ event with the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, on 1 February at the Dubai Press Club at 15.00 p.m. Mona Bishay, Director of IFAD’s Near East and North Africa Division, will also speak at the event.  

Båge’s visit to the United Arab Emirates is part of IFAD’s efforts to enhance and broaden its strong partnership and cooperation with the UAE, one of IFAD’s founding Member states.

As head of the United Nations specialized agency dedicated to eradicating poverty in rural areas of the developing world, Båge will provide information about IFAD’s ongoing work in the Near East and North Africa region. Bishay will outline how local people can sustainably manage the natural resources on which their livelihoods depend. In one of the driest regions in the world, IFAD has successfully supported land reclamation and water conservation programmes in Egypt, the Sudan, Jordan, Syria, Morocco and Tunisia.

IFAD is also addressing youth unemployment as an integral part of rural poverty reduction programmes in the region. Two additional areas of work that are priorities for IFAD in the region are supporting the recent introduction of rural microfinance and linking smallholder farmers with international markets.

Since 1977, IFAD has committed a total of US$1.3 billion in loans through 105 projects and programmes in 15 countries in the Near East and North Africa region.

On 2 February, Båge will travel to Kuwait, another founding Member state, to attend the annual high-level meeting of the Heads of the Arab Funds Coordination Group in Kuwait City. The meeting will convene the eight most important aid agencies of the Arab world. The Assistant President of IFAD’s External Affairs Department, Matthew Wyatt, will also attend the meeting. 

While in the UAE and Kuwait, Båge will call on senior government officials to discuss how strategic partnerships can contribute to the global effort to fight rural poverty, particularly in the Near East and North Africa region.

Media interested in obtaining a copy of a short video report filmed on the Yemeni coast should contact David Paqui, IFAD events officer, at +393357516406. The video focuses on a poor village in the Al Mahara governate that has turned a small fishery activity into a booming fish export business.

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IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 191 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, worth a total of US$6.6 billion. IFAD has invested US$3.1 billion, with cofinancing provided by partners including governments, project participants, multilateral and bilateral donors. These initiatives will help about 82 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.8 billion in 751 programmes and projects that have reached more than 310 million poor rural women and men. Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, including project participants, contributed US$9.2 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided another US$7.2 billion in cofinancing.